30° – Visualising Ocean Data
Covering 71% of the Earth’s surface, water is an important part of the global ecosystem. Every development and change in the sea also affects life on earth. Datasets help us to understand conditions and ecological processes such as changes in salinity or temperature. Scientists of various disciplines have spent the last 100 years gathering data in order to analyse it and discover relations between different sets of data.

However, the more frequent and more comprehensive studies are being conducted, the more accurate pre-
dictions can be made about the future.
These predictions directly influence political, econo-
mical and social decision making processes on a global scale.

30° allows the viewer to explore the analysis of large quantities of data on an aesthetic as well as a spatial level. The exhibited data originates from measurements taken along the 30th meridian west, which, for the most part, runs across open ocean waters. Short animations visualise parameters such as temperature, salinity or oxygen. Graphics are used to visualise data fluctuations and comparisons of individual points of measurement. A scale allows the chronological classification of each measurement.30° hopes to draw attention to the efforts of scientists who have dedicated their work to gaining a better understanding of the sea in order to preserve the world’s oceans.